STATEMENT OF COMMISSIONER MICHAEL J. COPPS
In order to protect children from indecent programming, Congress passed laws
limiting the broadcast of "obscene, indecent or profane" language and charged the FCC
with the enforcement of these laws. As an FCC Commissioner, I have a responsibility to
ensure that the indecency laws of the United States are being enforced. I take this
responsibility with the utmost seriousness.
I want to take the opportunity presented by these decisions to express some
thoughts on the Commission's enforcement of the indecency laws.
As a parent, I am concerned about what seems to be an increasing amount of
sexually explicit and profane programming on the airwaves and the potentially
detrimental effects of this programming on our children. Our nation has enacted laws -
Constitutionally sanctioned laws - to protect young people from these excesses.
One of the complaints dismissed today involves an allegation that, during a
morning radio program, the twenty-seven-year-old host discussed - perhaps even joked
about - having had sexual relations with a nine-year-old child. This sort of content is at
least offensive to the listening public, if not indecent. It is government's responsibility -
and more specifically that of the FCC - to ensure that indecent programming is not
broadcast when children are likely to be in the audience.
The process by which the FCC has enforced these laws places an inordinate
responsibility on the complaining citizen. It seems to me that when enforcing the
indecency laws of the United States it is the Commission's responsibility to investigate
complaints that the law has been violated, not the citizen's responsibility to prove the
violations.
Lack of information about what was said and when it was broadcast should not be
allowed to derail our enforcement of the laws. If something is said on the public
airwaves, a strong argument can be made that it should be part of the public record. I
believe that most broadcasters already retain recordings of their broadcasts, for a variety
of reasons. That strikes me as good management. Our indecency enforcement should not
create a disincentive for broadcasters to do so. As a newly-confirmed Commissioner, I
am interested in looking at how the Commission could encourage universal retention of
recordings of broadcast programming to aid in its indecency enforcement.
Going forward, I want to ensure that the Commission investigates rigorously the
complaints filed by citizens. Americans have a right to expect their government to
enforce the indecency laws of the United States. This will be an important priority for
me as I begin my service at the Commission.